"A Christian cannot coexist with the spirit of the world," he said, speaking in a room of the Assisi archbishop's residence where St Francis shed himself of his rich clothes and embraced a life of poverty.

Worldliness, the Pope said, "leads us to vanity, arrogance, pride. And this is an idol, it is not of God."

Those who try to act as Christians without renouncing their worldly attitudes become "pastry-shop Christians", the Pope said — "nice sweet things, but not real Christians".

"The worldly spirit kills; it kills people," he continued. "It kills the Church."

While he spoke of the need to purify the Church, Pope Francis poked fun at anxious Catholics who had predicted in the media that he would "strip the bishops, the cardinals, himself" during his visit to Assisi. He assured listeners that he intended only to strengthen the Church by eliminating distractions.

The Pope said he directed his invitation not merely to the hierarchy but to all the Church's members, and that he sought renunciation of spiritual complacency as well as of material riches.

"When the media speak of the Church, they believe that the Church means priests, nuns, bishops, cardinals and the Pope," he observed. "But the Church is all of us and we all have to strip ourselves of this worldliness."

In a homily at a Mass he celebrated in the square outside the Basilica of St Francis, the Pope disputed popular misconceptions of St Francis and his legacy.

The common association of St Francis with the cause of peace and love for creation is badly incomplete, he said.

The peace which Francis received, experienced and lived "is the peace of Christ, which is born of the greatest love of all, the love of the cross", the Pope said.

"Franciscan peace is not something saccharine. Hardly. That is not the real St Francis. Nor is it a kind of pantheistic harmony with the forces of the cosmos. That is not Franciscan either; it is a notion some people have invented."

Sources:

Catholic News Service

Vatican Radio

Catholic News Agency

Image: Free Republic

Editor's note: After his election to the papacy this week, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina chose Pope Francis as his name. It's an homage to Saint Francis of Assisi, the 13th century Catholic friar and preacher who founded the beggar-monk movement through his Franciscan order. He emphasized a life of asceticism and humility, and created a powerful voice for the poor the church couldn't ignore. SPIEGEL's history magazine, SPIEGEL GESCHICHTE, published the following article about the influence of the new pope's namesake in 2010.

It was one of those nights when young people made their happy, noisy way through the streets of Assisi. With a good meal and more than a few rounds of drinks behind them, they danced and sang loudly as they navigated the alleyways of this central Italian town.

Not all of Assisi's residents were amused. One commented sourly that the young people had "filled their stomachs to bursting and now are despoiling the city squares with their drunken songs."

This particular group of merry youths was headed up by one Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone, known as Francesco, around 22 years old at the time. The scion of a wealthy and well-respected cloth merchant family, Francesco had a penchant for extravagant clothes and enjoyed the good things in life. As a sign of his elevated position among the other young men, he was never seen without a walking stick swinging jauntily from his hand, and he was well-liked thanks to a propensity for picking up the group's tab after a night of revelry.

Francesco's inebriated companions took no particular notice when their leader lagged behind on this particular evening. When they did finally realize and turn back, they found Francesco lost in an ecstatic reverie, as if struck by lightning, in the middle of the street. "Suddenly he was visited by the Lord's spirit and his heart filled with such joy that he could neither speak nor move," one chronicler later wrote. Continue reading

Sources

• Spiegel Online
• Image: Fine Art America

Continue reading

Father Arnaud Rostand, the American district superior of the SSPX, labelled the inter-religious event as "a direct attack against the first Commandment of God.

Rostand announced a Day of Reparation for the SSPX in the US, urging the faithful to pray for the defense of the faith "especially against the rising ecumenism of our times."

American SSPX leaders directed attention to an essay by Father Regis de Cacquery, the French district superior, denouncing the Assisi pilgrimage:

• "How can anyone entertain the thought that God will be pleased with the Jews who are faithful to their fathers, who crucified the Son of God and deny the Triune God?
• How could He give ear to prayers addressed to Allah, whose disciples relentlessly persecute Christians?
• How could He accept the suffrages of all the heretics, schismatics, and apostates who have repudiated His Church, which came from His Son's open side?
• How could He be honored by the worship offered to idols by all the animists, pantheists, and other idolaters?"

de Cacquery labelled 'this personal decision of the Pope' as one that humiliates the Church.

Sources

• SSPX District Superior's announcement
• Catholic Culture
• Image: Abitadeacon

Benedict welcomed some 300 leaders representing a rainbow of faiths to the hilltop Italian town of Assisi to commemorate the 25th anniversary of a daylong prayer for peace here called by Pope John Paul II in 1986 amid Cold War conflicts.

The German-born Benedict noted that in the 25 years since John Paul's peace day, the Berlin Wall had crumbled without bloodshed. But he said nations are still full of discord and that religion is now frequently being used to justify violence.

But the pope said it was wrong to demand that faith disappear from daily life to somehow rid the world of a religious pretext for violence. He argued that the absence of God from people's daily lives was even more dangerous, since it deprived men and women of any moral criteria to judge their actions.

The Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, the head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and one of the first speakers at the peace meeting, said the delegates weren't gathered there to come to a "minimum common ground of belief."

Rather, he said, the meeting would show the world that through their distinctiveness, different faiths provide the wisdom to draw upon "in the struggle against the foolishness of a world still obsessed with fear and suspicion, still in love with the idea of a security based on active hostility, and still capable of tolerating or ignoring massive loss of life among the poorest through war and disease."

And there was a lot of distinctiveness on hand. Standing on the altar of St. Mary of the Angels basilica, Wande Abimbola of Nigeria, representing Africa's traditional Yoruba religion, sang and shook a percussion instrument as he told the delegates that peace can only come with greater respect for indigenous religions.

Thursday's meeting also included Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I and representatives from Greek, Russian, Serbian and Belarusian Orthodox churches as well as Lutheran, Methodist and Baptist leaders. Several rabbis were joined by some 60 Muslims, a half-dozen Hindus and Shinto believers, three Taoists, three Jains and a Zoroastrian.

Full Article: Fox News

"It is an exercise of dialogue, and dialogue always respects the specific identity of the people, of individuals," said Cardinal Peter Turkson, President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace

The October 27 event in Assisi is entitled "Pilgrims of Truth, Pilgrims of Peace" and is being held to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the first World Day for Peace, begun by Pope John Paul II in 1986.

"The world today, as it did 25 years ago, needs peace," said Cardinal Turkson adding that "it is time to assess the results and to re-launch our commitment in the face of new challenges."

Over 300 delegates from 50 countries will set off from the Vatican station on a specially charted train heading for the small Umbrian hill-town from where St. Francis hailed. 
Upon arrival they will gather at the basilica of Saint Mary of the Angels where delegates will discuss the legacy of previous meetings as well as present challenges. They will also be addressed by Pope Benedict.

Later in the day, the group will make its way to the tomb of St. Francis, where they will renew their commitment to world peace.

Significantly, amongst the 176 delegates from non Judeo-Christian religions, there will be 50 Muslims—nearly five times as many as were present in 1986.

From the Christian world there will be 31 delegations. Included in that number will be important church leaders such as the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew I, as well as key figures from other ecclesial communions such as Archbishop Rowan Williams, head of the worldwide Anglican Communion.

One delegation that will attend for the first time will be a group of atheists, including the Austrian economist Walter Baier and three philosophers - Bodei Remo from Italy, Julia Kristeva from France and Mexico's Guillermo Hurtado.

Source: CNA

Benedict and representatives of the world's major religions will make speeches and sign a common commitment to peace when they meet in Assisi in October, but they will not pray together, the Vatican said.

In fact, Pope Benedict's formal prayer service will be held at the Vatican the evening before the encounter Oct. 27 in Assisi with leaders of other Christian communities and representatives of the world's main religions.

The 1986 event was seen by many as a milestone in interreligious relations but was criticized by some Catholics who said it appeared to inappropriately mix elements from Christian and non-Christian religions.

The Vatican press office issued a statement April 2 giving the theme for the 2011 event — "Pilgrims of Truth, Pilgrims of Peace" -- and a general outline of events.

"Every human being is ultimately a pilgrim in search of truth and goodness," the Vatican statement said.

The search requires people to enter into dialogue with others, "believers and unbelievers alike, without sacrificing one's own identity or indulging in forms of syncretism" where elements of different religions are used indiscriminately, the statement said.
Source

• US Catholic
• Image: Eur-Med.dk